Abiotic and biotic data from Zostera Experimental Network (ZEN) 2014 surveys (ZEN 2 project) (NCEI Accession 0278038)

This dataset contains biological, chemical, physical, and survey - biological data collected at eelgrass_beds_global during deployment ZEN2_2014 in the Adriatic Sea, Coastal Waters of Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Gulf of Bothnia, Inland Sea (Seto Naikai), Inner Sea - West Coast Scotland, Irish Sea and St. George's Channel, Japan Sea, Mediterranean Sea, New York Bight, North Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, Norwegian Sea, Skagerrak, and White Sea from 2014-05-16 to 2014-09-29. These data include Carbon, Nitrogen, abundance, salinity calculated from CTD primary sensors, and water temperature. The instruments used to collect these data include Automated DNA Sequencer, CHN Elemental Analyzer, PCR Thermal Cycler, Refractometer, and Temperature Logger. These data were collected by Dr Kevin Hovel of San Diego State University, Dr J Emmett Duffy of Smithsonian Institution, Dr Pamela L Reynolds of University of California-Davis, and John J. Stachowicz of University of California-Irvine as part of the "Global biodiversity and functioning of eelgrass ecosystems (Zostera Experimental Network 2) (ZEN 2)" project. The Biological and Chemical Oceanography Data Management Office (BCO-DMO) submitted these data to NCEI on 2021-04-19.

The following is the text of the dataset description provided by BCO-DMO:

Eelgrass 2014 Site Survey Data

Dataset Description:
Acquisition Description:
Twenty meter square plots (2 meters apart) were sampled at 50 eelgrass meadows ("sites") in summer 2014. Abiotic parameters were quantified in situ and/or using local monitoring station data. The epifaunal community was quantified as in Duffy et al. 2015. Seagrass density was quantified in 20cm diameter rings, and dry mass from 20 cm diameter cores which captured all above ground mass, and below ground to a depth of 20 cm. A three centimeter section from each of 5 shoots per plot was quantified for leaf carbon and nitrogen (processed at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science), while another 3 cm section was utilized for plant genetic analyses (processed by J. Olsen at the University of Groningen). Additional details are included in the Zostera Experimental Network 2014 survey handbook protocol, available upon request.

Methodology is available from: J. Emmett Duffy, et al. Biodiversity mediates top-down control in eelgrass ecosystems: A global comparative-experimental approach. 2015. Ecology Letters 18:7 (696–705). https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.12448 .